Hamas Confirms: Marwan Issa Killed In Israeli Air Strike

JERUSALEM (VINnews) — Hamas has confirmed in internal discussions that Marwan Issa, deputy to Hamas military chief Mohammed Deif, who was targeted in an Israeli strike last week, has been killed, according to a Kan News report on Sunday, citing Palestinian sources.

According to the sources, the number three in Hamas’s high command was killed in the IDF strike in Nusseirat in central Gaza while he was hiding in one of Hamas’s terror tunnels.

The sources also told Kan that Issa’s body was still buried underneath the rubble. The report added that Razi Abu Tomeh, Commander of a Hamas Brigade, was also hiding with Issa and was also killed in the strike.

Last week, the IDF announced it had targeted Issa during a strike on the Strip. However, the military could not confirm Issa had been killed, and Hamas remained silent on the subject. The military confirmed, however, that no hostages had been in the vicinity of the attack.

According to a report published by the British-based Guardian newspaper,  on the Sunday following the attack, Hamas’s senior communications went silent for 72 hours, which is the usual protocol for the terrorist organization in the wake of an attack on one of the senior commanders.

Intelligence expert Avi Melamed told the British newspaper that only “a human asset,” or rather an official in the terror group, could have confirmed “where and when Issa was hiding, [and] that he would remain there with time for the cabinet to approve” the operation and the IDF to launch it.

Israel “would have needed to confirm that no Israeli captives were being held near him as human shields,” he added.

Following the attack, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a video, “We are on our way to complete victory,” “We have already killed number four in the Hamas; three, two, and one are on the way.”

“We will reach everyone,” he concluded.